Car buyers have been flocking to showrooms and emptying their red packets for downpayment, as car dealers see red-hot demand for new cars following the COE price plunge and Chinese New Year holiday.

Champion Motors, the local Suzuki distributor, reported a 30 per cent increase in bookings after COE prices fell to their lowest level in 17 years. The popular Swift and SX4 Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV) have been snapped up quickly by buyers, some of whom could have been waiting to see if there would be any further cuts to ARF (Additional Registration Fee) in the latest Budget package announced by Second Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam last Thursday.

Parallel importer, Car Times, saw more families visiting their showrooms since reopening on Wednesday, and up to half of them made bookings, which translates to about 20 per cent increase in overall sales.

Attributing the surge in interest to the latest COE pricing anomaly and the long Chinese New Year break, Miss Gem Yeo, Executive Director of Car Times, named Toyota Wish and new Honda Stream as the best-sellers among the new orders. The Category B COE price for these two models have fallen from $12,152 to $6,002.

Mr Kenny Chua, a graduate student who recently ordered a Suzuki SX4, was among those who were tempted by the low-COE price to change car.

"I've already owned a Korean-made car for more than three years. But, with it starting to present some problems, the drop in COE did make it easier for me to get a new car."

Many AsiaOne readers seem to have been infected by the car-buying itch. Nearly 56 per cent of 60 readers in an AsiaOne poll indicated that they are considering buying a new car.

But the good times may not last. The surge in demand has prompted dealers to raise prices.

For instance, prices of Honda's hot sellers, the City, Jazz and Civic (1.6), have started inching up by S$400 - S$500 after Thursday's rush for bookings, which saw more than triple the number of orders compared to a usual weekday.

Cycle & Carriage, which distributes the Kia range of cars, has also raised prices by about $1,500 across the board yesterday, after slashing the sticker prices by $2,000 after the latest round of COE results - no thanks to an estimated 30 per cent increase in sales.

Potential Suzuki buyers still have time to make up their minds this weekend though, as Champion Motors' price revision is expected to take effect only on Monday, with prices expected to go up by at least $1,000.

Some of the hottest buys at the moment
(Prices may fluctuate and vary according to product specifications)

Kia Picanto $34,999
Kia Cerato $41,499
Suzuki Swift $47,500
Suzuki SX4 $51,500
Toyota Wish $71,800
Honda Stream $73,800
Honda Jazz 1.4 (A) $52,900
Honda Civic 1.6 (A) $70,000